1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to earrings, and more particularly concerns an attachment for an earring of the type worn on pierced ears.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Decorative devices worn on the ears, and known as earrings, may be removably attached to the wearer's ear by clamp means or a portion of the earring which penetrates a small aperture pierced through the ear, said latter type of earring being generally referred to as a pierced earring. In one kind of pierced earring, the portion which penetrates the ear is wire-like, having a hook or loop configuration that holds the earring in place. In another kind of pierced earring, the portion that penetrates the ear is a straight rigid post. A fastener, usually spring biased, engages the extremity of the post that penetrates the ear, thereby holding the earring in place.
A popular variation of the post-type pierced earring is a stud earring wherein the ornamental feature is a relatively small, generally circularly symmetric object such as a precious gem which is directly attached to the rigid post. When such stud earrings are worn, a further option is to utilize the same post to penetrate and thereby pendantly support another decorative object, generally referred to as a "jacket". The jacket has an inner surface directed toward the ear and a visibly distinctive outer surface, and may have any configuration, provided it can be penetrated by the post at a thin section which will not occupy much of the length of the post. By combining the stud earring with different jackets, many variations in appearance may be achieved while simultaneously providing the wearer the satisfaction of creative accomplishment in fashioning earrings of novel appearance.
Many jackets would in themselves constitute desirable earrings if there were some way of attaching them to the ear without the need for the stud earring. If the jackets could thereby be employed as earrings, it would increase even further the number of appearance combinations available to the wearer.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an attachment device for a jacket that enables the jacket to function as a post-type pierced earring.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an attachment device as in the foregoing object which can be easily and securely adjusted by the wearer to permit use of the jacket either as an earring or as a jacket.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an attachment device of small size adapted to be unobtrusively affixed to the inner surface of the jacket.
These objects and other jackets and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.